


In Sickness

by afteriwake



Category: Eureka
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-18
Updated: 2012-09-18
Packaged: 2017-11-14 12:25:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/515218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He’s only a <i>little</i> sick…</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Sickness

“It’s just a fever,” Carter said, walking into the kitchen. “Some rest and some chicken soup will make it go away.

“Now Sheriff Carter, that’s not the way a fever is reduced. You need to drink plenty of fluids and—“

“Enough, S.A.R.A.H.,” Carter said with a sigh. “Could you just get a hold of Jo and tell her I’m taking a sick day?”

“Very well, Sheriff Carter. But you really should think about what I said.”

“Tell you what. If it goes higher than a hundred and one, call Allison and have her give me a check-up.”

“Will do, Sheriff Carter.”

“Jo, now? Please?”

There was a pause, and then a sleepy male voice answered the phone. “Hello?” he said.

Despite his foul mood and slightly nauseous general feelings, Carter smiled. “Zane. Jo’s going to kill you for answering her phone.”

“Jo’s in the shower right now,” he replied, and then Carter heard him yawn. “I think she told me to pick up the phone if someone called.”

“Think?” Carter said, his grin growing wider.

“I’m not quite awake yet. Long night.”

“Don’t want to know about it,” Carter said.

Zane chuckled. “Not that kind of late night. Didn’t Tess tell you about the project on quantum physics that we’re heading?”

“Yeah, she did, and I forgot until thirty seconds ago,” Carter said sheepishly. “I haven’t seen her in a couple of days.”

“It’s important to—“

There was a pause, a shriek, and then some muffle movement on the other side. “Carter?” Jo said. “Sorry about Zane. _Someone_ forgot he wasn’t at home this morning.”

“It’s okay. He reminded me why I haven’t seen my girlfriend in two days,” Carter said with a laugh. “Listen, Jo, I’m sick. I’m not coming in today.”

“How sick?” she asked.

“Fever and nausea. As much as I don’t want to be bothered today, if it’s _really_ important I’ll try and come out to help you. But if Henry or Allison or anyone else can handle it, call them first.”

“Got it,” she said. “Get better, Carter.”

“Thanks,” he said, and he hung up. He finally moved over to the cupboard and got a glass. He put it to the fridge. “I want some apple juice,” he said to S.A.R.A.H.

“Sheriff, water would be better,” she replied.

" _Apple juice_ , S.A.R.A.H.,” he said, lacing his voice with the hint of a growl. When the liquid came out of the dispenser, he was relieved to see it was, indeed, apple juice. “Thank you. I’m going to drink this and lie down.”

“Shouldn’t you eat, Sheriff?” S.A.R.A.H. asked.

He thought about it for a minute. “Toast. No butter.”

“White or wheat?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Within a few minutes there was toast waiting for him on a plate. “Thanks.”

“Get some rest, Sheriff. I’ll keep all visitors away.”

“Unless it’s Jo or Tess,” he said. “Though Jo would probably call first. If either of them call, wake me up.” And with that, he went back to his room, drank his juice, ate his toast, and went back to sleep in the darkened room.

\--

It was a little after one when he heard pounding on the door. “S.A.R.A.H.?” Carter asked sleepily.

“It’s Dr. Fontana,” she replied.

“Let her in,” Carter said, getting up. The nausea was lessened, but he felt hotter than he did before. He made it out to the living room in time to see Tess step in and hold up a bag.

“Vince made you chicken soup to feel better,” she said with a smile, coming in more and giving him a quick kiss when she got close enough.

“Don’t go getting yourself sick,” Carter replied.

“I’m all up to date on my shots. You should be too, actually,” she said with a slight frown.

“It’s just a little fever,” he replied.

Tess moved the underside of her wrist to his forehead. “That feels like a little more than a little fever,” she said, concerned. “S.A.R.A.H., what’s his temperature?”

“One hundred point seven and rising,” she replied. “I was told not to call Dr. Blake until it reached one hundred and one.”

Tess shook her head. “Jack, you need to go to GD and get looked at.”

“Doesn’t the pharmacy have the cure for the common cold?” he asked.

“And it’s a million dollars,” she said. “Is it just a fever?”

“Nausea, too,” he admitted.

“Come on. Soup can wait. Let’s get you looked at,” she said, setting the soup down on the counter.

“I’ll be fine,” Carter protested.

“For me,” Tess said, putting a hand on his arm. “I’ll worry about you when I should be worried about my experiment.”

“If I’m really sick, will you still worry?”

“If you’re really sick I’ll leave Zane in charge tonight and stay by your bed,” she said with a smile.

He grinned back at her. “Okay. I’ll do this so you won’t worry.”

“Thank you,” she said.

He took three steps towards his room, and then suddenly fell to the floor. Tess watched it happen and within thirty seconds she was on her phone, frantically calling Allison and making sure Carter was breathing at the same time.

\--

It was four hours later when he woke up. He saw Jo, Tess, Allison and Henry standing over his bed. “How are you feeling?” Allison asked as Tess squeezed his hand.

He thought for a moment. “Better than I did this morning.”

“Well, you were starting to get a cold and you were dehydrated,” Allison said. “It was a bad combination and your body passed out from the stress. Your fever broke, though I still want to keep you here overnight.”

“You moron,” Jo said, with a smirk on her face. “Tess called me to help get you over here. You should take better care of yourself.”

“Will do,” Carter said with a small smile.

“We should let you get your rest,” Henry said. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Thanks,” he said, looking around. Everyone left except Tess, who moved away briefly to pull a chair up next to the side of his bed. “How come you’re not leaving?”

“You’re stuck here overnight. I told you, if you were really sick I’d leave Zane in charge and stay.”

“But I’m not really sick,” he replied with a slight frown.

She took his hand again. “But you’re stuck here overnight. Least I can do is keep you company until you fall asleep again.”

He squeezed it and shut his eyes. “Thanks, Tess,” he said before he drifted back off to sleep, holding Tess’ hand tightly. She got up out of the chair slightly, kissed his much cooler forehead, and went back to waiting for him to drift completely off to sleep. When his grip loosed, she brushed his hair back and went to her labs, letting the nurse know to call her if he woke up again before Allison said he could go home. After all, she thought to herself, if was what she would want him to do if the same thing had happened to her.


End file.
